Electric Light Orchestra
On the Third Day

Formed from the ashes of The Move and reuniting its core line-up of Jeff
Lynne, Roy Wood, Rick Price, and Bev Bevan, Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)
initially struggled to get off the ground. Its self-titled debut was a gutsy but
utterly dysfunctional attempt to blend chamber music with hard rock, and it
proved to be a false start when the turmoil within the ensemble became so
burdensome that it caused the quick departure of Wood and Price. Although the
group scored a moderate hit with an abbreviated version of its furiously
driving, symphonic take on Chuck Berry’s Roll Over Beethoven, the rest of
its sophomore effort Electric Light Orchestra II highlighted the notion
that the group had yet to develop its own voice or chemistry.

By the time that ELO issued On the Third Day in late 1973, however,
the pieces were beginning to fall into place. With the progressive rock movement
at a fevered pitch, it’s not surprising that Lynne was focused upon sculpting a
conceptual work, and the first side of the album featured a convoluted four-song
suite that used classical-style interludes to connect its pop and rock
components. Likewise, the swirling Moog synthesizers that graced songs like
New World Rising/Ocean Breakup Reprise and Daybreaker befitted the
era. Pushing in multiple directions at once, the entirety of the affair wasn’t
particularly cohesive, but buried within the effort’s grandiose gestures lay the
roadmap that eventually would lead the band to far greater commercial
achievements.

In effect, On the Third Day contained a wealth of ideas that linked
together the past, present, and future — not only of Electric Light Orchestra
but also of pop music. Hints of The Beach Boys surfaced within King of the
Universe, while both Bluebird Is Dead and Oh No Not Susan
draped their psychedelic string arrangements around melodies that sounded as if
they were drawn directly from John Lennon’s solo canon. Elsewhere, the disco
groove of Showdown provided the template for The Bee Gees’ transformation
on Mr. Natural and Main Course; the crunchy guitars of Ma-Ma-Ma
Belle connected Grand Funk Railroad with Foreigner; and the introduction to
Daybreaker provided the basis for some of the musical themes that ELO
explored on its 1975 effort Face the Music. On the Third Day also
featured an eerie reworking of Edvard Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain
King, which sufficiently closed the book on the ensemble’s interpretations
of classical fare.

Remastered and reissued, the latest incarnation of On the Third Day
includes a quintet of bonus tracks, though only the forgettable symphonic
composite Interludes is previously unreleased. The remaining four tracks
— Everyone’s Born to Die, an alternate mix of Dreaming of 4000
that originally was christened Mambo, and two early versions of
Ma-Ma-Ma Belle that initially were dubbed Auntie — are, at least,
making their U.S. debut. Each of them features T. Rex’s Marc Bolan, who had made
uncredited appearances on the final versions of Ma-Ma-Ma Belle and
Dreaming of 4000. Both Mambo and the second rendition of Auntie
are refreshingly raw, while Everyone’s Born to Die curiously merged Bob
Dylan and George Harrison. None of it is essential, of course, and On the
Third Day remains more intriguing than functional. After all, it was
Electric Light Orchestra’s subsequent endeavor Eldorado that served as
the culmination of its journey.

On the Third Day is available from Barnes & Noble.
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